Archive for July 12th, 2017

Hajime Moriyasu standing down marks the end of an era for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, but perhaps the timing was right for a change in the Big Arch dugout… (日本語版はこちらです)

They say a change is as good as a rest, and as J1 heads into a three-week break Sanfrecce Hiroshima will be doing both as they look to right their course in what has been a torrid season so far.

The Purple Archers – champions as recently as 2015, when they stormed to their third title in four years – have been in woeful form in the first half of the 2017 campaign, and ahead of the mid-season interval head coach Hajime Moriyasu decided enough was enough and fell on his own sword after the 4-3 defeat away to Urawa Reds on 1 July.

Having taken the decision to step down Moriyasu insisted the buck stopped with him for the run of results that has left Sanfrecce mired in the relegation zone, while the players in turn claimed the bulk of responsibility as theirs. Striker Anderson Lopes, for instance, said after the first game of the post-Moriyasu era away to Yokohama F.Marinos on 8 July that 90% of the culpability rested with those out on the pitch.

In actuality, the proportioning of blame is probably not necessary in this case, with it fairer to say that things between Moriyasu and Sanfrecce had instead just naturally run their course.

The 48-year-old had worked wonders in his five-and-a-half years at the helm since replacing Mihailo Petrovic, but with key players leaving every season and the spine of the team that did remain getting older each year the club seemed to be stuck in something of a repetitive cycle that neither coach nor players were able to snap.

In such cases, while perhaps not an easy decision, a change at the top is probably for the best. A fresh face in the dugout, new ideas, new training methods, chances for fringe players to stake a claim, and pressure on regulars to convince the new man in charge they deserve to keep their places in the side could all serve to reinvigorate the team once the league resumes at the end of the month.

If new coach Jan Jonsson can lift the team’s spirits and pick up a first home win of the season against Tosu on 30 July then they could well go on to build considerably on their current haul of just 11 points in the following half-a-dozen games.

Performances haven’t actually been as bad as results suggest, with the side still causing opponents plenty of problems going forwards, as Zlatan Ljubijankic noted after his Urawa Reds side battled back from 3-2 down to win 4-3 at Saitama Stadium in what proved to be Moriyasu’s final game.

“I don’t understand how Hiroshima is in this kind of situation because they are still a good team, they showed that today,” the 33-year-old, who made it 3-3 with his first touch after coming on as a 84th minute substitute, said.

“It is difficult to play against them. But this comes; you don’t know the reason. If you knew it then you’d change and everything would be easier.”

In the end Moriyasu decided his departure could be that magic fix, but as Ljubijankic forecasted it didn’t bring about an immediate upturn in fortunes with Sanfrecce only able to draw their next match against Marinos under interim boss Akinobu Yokouchi.

“A game is 90 minutes plus injury time,” Kazu Morisaki said after the last-gasp defeat away to Urawa, in which Sanfrecce conceded twice just before half time before coming back to take the lead themselves with 18 minutes to go.

“Getting the first goal is vital, I think from now on we have to be looking to score first. We’ve always been conceding the first goal and having to battle back and that is tiring both mentally and physically.”

It was the same story against Marinos last weekend, with Sanfrecce unable to take their chances and then conceding themselves with just nine minutes to play. They battled back well though, and Hiroki Mizumoto feels the fact they were able to snatch a draw courtesy of Anderson Lopes’ 90th-minute equaliser provides a decent first step on the road to recovery.

“When you think about how things have gone so far this season getting a point at 1-0 down looked difficult but not one of us threw in the towel,” he said after that game at Nissan Stadium.

“We were able to come back and went and tried to get a second goal even though we were away. But when you look at the overall performance it is disappointing that we didn’t get all three points.

“The second half of the season is going to be a really tough battle. We had quite a lot of shots today but we need to make sure we are getting them on target and tighten up at the back.”

Scoring goals has certainly been something of an issue this season, in particular, as Morisaki pointed out, drawing first blood. Sanfrecce have only managed to get on the score-sheet first in four league games, with the win over Gamba the only one they have gone on to take maximum points from.

Even so, the 1-1 draw with Marinos ended their losing streak at four matches and offered a bit of respite heading into the break, with the further boost of new signings Daiki Niwa and Patric also likely to add some extra character to the side.

If Jonsson can come in and instil a bit of belief in his charges right from the off then all is certainly not lost for Sanfrecce, but confidence is dangerously low at the moment and needs to be retrieved as soon as possible.